Tip of the Month: How Social Media Helps Hiring in Heavy Supply Market

We hear a lot these days about the possibility of a “Double Dip” Recession.  The other big cloud hanging over our heads is “Jobless” Recovery.  After living through the past two crummy years what business isn’t wary of hiring, investing or being positive about the future.

You throw the unknown cost of Healthcare Reform and all the other tax increases coming down the pike and it’s no wonder we’re talking about Double Dips and Jobless Recoveries.

The staffing industry is positioned to be a bridge for those companies experiencing increasing volume but are not comfortable making permanent hiring commitments.  We are seeing this at Ryan Staffing as our own volume is approaching pre-recession levels.

Ok, by now I’m sure you’re asking yourself what exactly does all this have to do with job fairs?  It’s simple, despite the circumstances of the current economy, especially in Northeast Ohio, we are still experiencing challenges in finding quality personnel willing to accept un-skilled manufacturing positions.

How can this be you ask?  Unemployment is at double digits right?  While logic is on your side, reality may not be.

What we are finding is that those collecting unemployment (and all the extensions that go with it) are not willing to give it up for Temp jobs, particularly at pay rates under $9.00 to $10.00 dollars per hour.  Added to this problem are transportation issues for those that rely on public transportation.

You throw in the legitimate need for experienced personnel that can pass both drug and background checks and the un-skilled local labor poll becomes tight, especially with demand increasing.

We have found is that “help wanted ads” in newspapers and posting jobs with Government Services cannot be solely be relied on anymore.  Social media sources and job boards yield better results.

Conducting job fairs along with plant tours has become a key recruiting tool for us particularly at our clients that are defiantly off the bus line and in need of lots of help.

The on-site job fair allows applicants to learn first and foremost exactly where the jobs are physically located and what the travel requirements would be.  The tours display the actual job opening and the physical job skills need to be successful along with the actual work environment.

Conducting interviews and applicant processing on-site adds legitimacy to those seeking employment.  Our experience is that more and better applicants apply under these circumstances because they know the opening is real and that their application is not just being banked for future openings.

So, if your service is having trouble keeping up with the needs and you don’t want to compromise quality, consider the job fair approach.